Second part of series of guides for beginners - written by Atheg today. Miniatures which are visible next to this note come from my personal collection though (as the one shown two weeks ago, in first part of this small series). I remember being very proud with my painting of these old Dark Elves.

Many good advices and tutorials on how to improve one's brushwork, painting techniques etc. can be found on the web these days, so I would like to concentrate on things of the same importance but rarely mensioned. Many of these rules I addopted to the miniatures painting field from everyday practice as a working artist/illustrator.

Where to start then?

1. Mother of all rules. Paint - paint a lot and paint often. Miniature painting is one of the unique things where quantity can transform into quality. Two, three evenings a week can very quickly bring unusual progress.

2. Don't bite off more than you can chew. Don't start your painting adventure with difficult/complicated models. Too often it can be discouraging. Master the basic techniques on rank and file models.

3. Don't be too hasty. Impatience is an archenemy even to veteran painters. There is a thin but clear line between "fast" and "too fast". It is easy to cross that line and your model changes then into painting disaster, your time and efforts are wasted. One can learn how to remove paint from a model though :)

4. When looking at fabulous works of master painters don't be a worshipper but a careful observer instead.

5. Everyone was a beginner one day. Brush masters also had their downfalls. We learn from mistakes.

6. Stick to few basic colours in the beginning. With them try to learn colour transition, detail work, right combinations of colours. Too many colours can be a distraction in the early stages of learning how to paint.

7. Help yourself with a colour wheel. Adjacent and complimentary colours (those from the opposite sides of the diagram) will always look good on the miniature. Of course, after some time You can experiment with other colour schemes but the sense of what is right develops in the beginnings.

8. Take care of Your brushes and paints. Whan properly managed they will serve You for a long time. Damaged brush with splitted hairmakes painting impossible and you will quickly get frustrated with your painting.

9. Look for the photographic, movie, illustration and nature references when it comes to shadow distribution, lighting, colours. Observation is priceless.

10. I always thought that painted miniatures tend to play better :) And - besides - nothing motivates me more than a battle against beautifully painted army. Sharing experience wih others is of really high importance. It is worth to remember that substantive criticism is nothing to be afraid of. Take it humbly and draw conclusions, not fearing to keep to your opinion. Discussion can only lead to good effects in the end.

Three spears and quiet conscience. Unit of Imperial spearmen, build entirely from the miniatures supplied with boxed set of earlier edition of the WFB game, is almost ready. Almost, as I want to add command group of course - champion, drummer and standard bearer. I will try to paint them someday, I promise;) Painting was standard for my Empire - basic colors, dip and highlights.

Answers for my question, which was asked two weeks ago, were explicit - I should write "Chosen from the week" in a longer fashion, describing more accurately what is hiding at the links' destination. So... Vos populi, vox Dei so to say... I'm amending myself in this part of the cycle...

Guides and tutorials:

- - Raffaele Picca from Massive Voodoo shows how to paint, step by step, hero of Crimson Fists chapter, Pedro Kantor. According to the author miniature is painted in a basic way, more to check a new photo camera, then to show painting skills. It is true, this is not the masterclass show which this author is perfectly capable of but still impressive I think. Worth to check out.

- Rob Hawkins on his blog shows how to build showcase diorama for "Rivet Wars" game. I'm not interested in this game at all (too comical for my liking) but still it is really nice show of modelling skills. And building zeppelin is certainly not easy.

- And now some theory of color - three parts of a lecture (first, second, third) about colors and practical applications of theirs. Written by one of the most accomplished Russian painters, Nadezhda Rieka, also known as River, from HopeRiver's Valley blog. We will return to her blog one more time today.

- Next tutorial shows, again in step by step way of things, how to make your own sabot bases. Sometimes we would like to use our single based miniatures in games which use unit bases - this is solution for this kind of problems. Written by Moiterei_1984 from Moitereisbuntewelt blog.

- BoltAction.Net is a site dedicated to Bolt Action game (suprising, isn/t it?). Usually this site presents action reports, reviews and similar stuff but there are guides being published there occassionally too. The last one is about making your own wooden fences. Really simple with final result looking fine - written by Chris Huhn.

- Let's start this part of blognote with a gallery of giant greenskins's spider. Arachnarok spider painted by Wariax from Black Brush Studio. I especially like really cool contrast between monster itself and colour of goblin flesh and really nice and not exaggerated highlights of spider carapace's armour.

- Another fine example of excellent painting skills is this Talos Paint Engine miniature painted by Piotr Michałek from Rot Forge blog. Article shows not only pictures of the finished model, but this is also a step-by-step painting and base modelling guide. I like such articles most, as they are time consuming to wrote and they are truly masterpieces of blogging. Picture of Pain Engine painted by Piotr is visible next to the English part of this note.

- Here you can see unfortunately just one photo, still I like it very much. This is Mantic Games Facebook fanpage with a photo sent by Micro Art Studio team. Our friends from Gdynia city built excellent Dreadball board. See for yourself.

- You can see excellent miniature conversion of Brovatar's Den of Imagination website. This conversion, labelled as Lady of the Swamp, uses parts from Wood Elves' Spellsinger and Isabella von Carstein models and I like it very, very much.

- Last gallery today is something from Poland again (all today's galleries show works of Polish painters, by the way). This is Dreamforge Games' website and a note about Leviathan Crusader, large plastic titan model, being painted by Przemek Szymczyk from Steel Demons Scale Modelling blog. Photo of this model painted by Przemek is visible next to the Polish part of this note.

New releases:

Just one thing today - there is a Kickstarter campaign of Heppy Seppuku running right now. This company tries (successfully it seems) to raise funds for making texture stamps for quick and easy greenstuff base making. Simple, cheap and great.

Free stuff:

One more time this part of note is dedicated to WH40K stuff. Well, I do not object, to be honest. This time I would like to present a complete Adeptus Mechanicus codex. Unoffficial, of course, but it seems well balanced. Will be great for friendly games, I'm sure.

Check this:

Two websites today. First, called Texas Wargamer, belongs to Ty Beard, author of "A Fistfull of TOWs" game. Dedicated to 6mm scale miniatures (with some other small models thrown in), with a nice selection of models galleries, tips and tutorials. As it is relatively new website, some parts are still under construction. Second website is a blog Six-D-Six run by Jares. Dropzone Commander, Flames of War, Anima Tactis - tutorials, galleries, scenery.

Sources:

Again, two websited today. First is dedicated to the last period of Hundred Years' War and Joan of Arc. Coats of arms, crests, painting tips, bibliography, mysteries and all kind of other things. Highly recommended for all people interested in this period. Second site - Reginheim - is no longer updated and is dedicated to Germans - culture, beliefs, clothes, arms, weapons, tactics, etc. Definitely worth looking at.

Other:

I'd like to grab your attention to interview with Graeme Davis, one of the authors of original, first edition of Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay. Graeme is a great guy, I have had a pleasure to chat with him few times almost twenty years ago. I think that this interview, published on Realm of Chaos blog, will be of a great interest for all oldschoolers out there. Two next links are dedicated to Russian Spring Angel 2013 competition. First link leads to Nadezdha Rieka's website, second will take you to Volomir's blog. Every single description of this event, which I know, indicates that this is a great convention - full of friendly people, with excellent organisation and great painters present.

Last thing of note today is this website of "Warhammer 40.000 Eternal Crusade" game. It seems it will be truly first massive multiplayer Warhammer 40K game. Well. I'm a bit of sceptic here because this is yet another game in this universe, which is being heralded as a "big thing". So far, unfortunately, all of them were epic fails. On the other hand, I would love to be successful...

And one small request. Link to this note, share it, like it, spread the word. Writing it is really time consuming, so I would like to have a broadest possible audience...

Basicks company is usually associated with high quality resin scenic bases and terrain accessories. These two kind of products are definitely by far the largest part of company's catalogue but Basicks makes miniatures too. I'd like to review two of figures produced by this Polish company.

First is a model labelled as "Cornelius The Wizard". This is 28 mm "heroic" scale miniature casted in grey resin. 20 mm square base is integral part of the figure. Wizard is rather on the large side of things, having about 35 mm of height (measured from top of the base to the eyes line) and with total height of 40 mm. This is pipe smoking, bearded wizard, carrying large, heavily ornamented book under one arm. Wizard wears a long coat with clearly visible decorative motives, with a heavily loaded backpack visible. There are lots of scrolls, small bags and some other, similar details all around the miniature. Looking at this figure I can see in my mind's eyes old, wizened adventurer, going for yet another quest.

As usual with Basick's products, bottom of the base is sanded flat. Mould lines are very delicate, there is no flash at all but I did notice three small holes. Filling them with putty should be fairly easy, especially as they are located on easily accessible parts of the miniature - edge of the coat, one of the scrolls and on the hat. The last hole may be left as it is too - it will be just another souvenir of adventures long gone.

Price of this miniature (5.45 EUR) is just about right I think. It is a pity though that figure is so tall, as it will be at least a head taller then standard wargaming miniatures out there. Still I think this will be a perfect representation of some rpg player looking for seasoned magic user figure. Additionally, size and detailing of this miniature make it a perfect choice for painters.

Second miniature is labelled as "Lilly The Timewitch". This is metal model in true 28 mm scale, supplied with round scenic resin base. Base of my miniature is covered with some wooden planks, base of the model in Basicks' catalogue is different though. Figure comes in three separate parts - body with cloak, legs and broom with a bat. Details are very good and sharp, mould lines are minimal, all three parts are very clean casted. Gluing legs to the body should be easy - connection is masked by edge of the skirt, which expose legs in stockings.

This miniature represents slightly comical witch, grabbing her pointed, archetypical hat with one hand, and with her flying broom being held behind her back. Personally I think that this miniature has "Disc World" feel... I'm not really much into such comical figures (well, maybe with an exception of greenskins from earlier WFB editions) but, to be honest, I really like this witch and will probably paint her for my personal collection. Price of the "Lilly" - 9.23 EUR for single model - is rather steep I think though.

Photos of painted miniatures are taken from manufacturer's website, all other photos are mine.

Six little pricks of consciences, to be more precise. Three of them are already painted, three more are being painted right now. Almost a full year ago I mentioned that there are only six miniatures of regular soldiers missing in my first WFB Empire spearmen unit. Well... Just eleven months later here they are, first three soldiers from this missing six presented on the blog. They just stared at my back from the shelf behind me... Primed, painted in yellow, almost ready to be painted. Finally I gave in. Painting is, of course, the same as earlier. Basic color, yellow, painted with airbrush, other colors, dip, some highlights and finito. But there is something funny too...When I dip miniatures, I usually do it with brush - I hate to waste good dip and I don't really have a space to throw excess of dip from figures. Anyway, I have had to find such place now... Miniature of soldier advancing with spear accidentally fall in my dip can... So I have had to thoroughly clean excess of dip... but I think it is clear that this miniature was painted in slightly different way:)

This base of heavily armoured Persian riders, which is General element in Later Achaemenid Persian DBA army, was on my desk for nearly a month. It was painted in erratic way, with long breaks between painting sessions. One day I managed to paint half a horse, two days later finish it, week later all flesh areas were painted, and so on... It was painstakingly slow process. Apparently I couldn't bring myself to finish it. So I'm very glad to finally having them on the shelf, painted. I really like some elements, how they turned out - purple commander's cloak for example. Unfortunately, after painting riders and finishing base, I noticed that all three miniatures are not really well looking together. I should paint tunics of riders in bright colors (like blue one) or in muted ones (like other rider)... It would looked better I think.

I was browsing through some miniatures forums and galleries today when I noticed something. As usual, some galleries present masterpieces, some of them contain very solid, good miniatures, most of them are just nice but not outstanding... But... a large part of galleries consists of photos of very badly painted miniatures, which should be shown with questions how to improve one's painting, not as finished works. It struck me that most of such badly painted miniatures could be rescued one way or the other... So I came with a idea. I will publish on my blog some introductory level beginner tips sometimes. Written by people with some painting experience. I will start by my own tips - not that I'm supergood - I'm just available right now to write something:)

1. Proper tools. Proper = good quality. Modelling knife, small file, three brushes of good quality, holding the point and NOT expensive. It is true - expensive brushes usually are better but beginners won't use their full potential for a long time.

2. Good quality paints. There is no need to buy whole color spectrum since the very beginning of our adventure. Basic colors, white and black are enough for a time being. It is important to buy miniatures of good quality though - can't go wrong with Vallejo Game Colors or Citadel Paints for a start. I recommend acrylics due to easy of use too.

3. Carefulness of work. Every stage of painting is important. Cleaning too. And being carefull with painting basic colors is extra important. Miniature painted in only basic colors but painted carefully looks much better then the same figure painted with some shadows, hightlights and other techniques but with paint applied in careless way.

4. Basecoat. Doesn't matter black, white or grey - use it.

5. Palette. Again - doesn't matter if it is a white slate, old plate, old cd - just use one. Why it is important - next point.

6. Thin your paints down. Don't use paint straight from the bottle. Shake it well first then take a drop or two and mix it with water on the palette. Paint should be as thick as a milk. If it doesn't cover miniature well with one layer - its good. Wait a little for a paint to dry and paint second or even third layer. Three thin layers are much better then one thick.

7. Right size of brush. Brush 000 is not the correct one for painting horse or some other large areas. Use brush of proper size for a given task.

8. Nothing wrong with learning from better painters. It is super easy in today's era. Movies, guides, tips - Internet is full of them. Use it and learn. Copy colors, ask questions, etc.

9. Patience. Rome wasn't built in a day, you will not learn to paint on master level in two weeks. But in two years - maybe.

10. Don't overestimate your skills. It is better to paint carefully miniature with basic colors only, maybe with shadows and hightlights, then try to use hard to master techniques like glazing or non-metallic-metals without knowing bacicks first.

Most important tip from this list? For me - being neat. There are dozens of photos of painted miniatures cruising the web, showing figures which are technically correct but with splashes of paints left somewhere, with details overpainted with basic color or with something similar... Easy to correct for much better effect.

I have fallen in love with this miniature since it was first released. Just few weeks after I have seen it on the Web, I managed to find and buy it on biggest Polish auction site. I came up with a color scheme when miniature was still in transit - some models are just so inspiring. Additionally, I spent much more time then usual painting this one, it took me few evenings (and I prefer to paint whole models in just few hours, whole evening the most). I tried to finish it for last year The Fang event, ufortunately I didn't manage this as I was short few last crucial hours. So, for a few months miniature on the shelf, occasionally playing as my Empire army's general. Eventually, The Fang competition was held in Warsaw's GW store again and I entered with this model. I was shocked when my little general got two first places - "Best Overall" and "Best WFB model". I don't paint for prizes, to be honest I never actually took part in any painting competition before (with one exception years ago). I think I was driven by an exhibixionistic urge of hobbyist, pure instinct of showing off what I have at home. :)

When I look at my Lietpold I'm really glad how the base, banner and blue armour turned out. I think overall look is coherent and nice looking and - believe me - I don't pick colors suiting each other every time. Lots of time when I see my own painted figures I think - "Well, I could paint it better". Here, fortunately, complimentary colors look nice.

I want to eventually buy more ForgeWorld Empire models for my army as painting this one gave me a lot of fun and satisfaction.

I've got Mormeg's dreadnoughts last Sunday. My brother has painted his models inspired a little by three metal behemoths painted by myself. I was really shocked with poor quality of these casts. Mormeg thought that I'm overreacting first but more he worked on his figures, more he agreed with me. But... I left my miniatures as they were mostly, due to my inherit laziness and he... Well, he went to town with them. Not only his models are corrected but they are actually improved and made much more suitable for 30k battlefields. They are simply much more correct for Horus Heresy era.

In his own words: "I tried to make them similar to Mk. IV venerable dreadnought, but as I worked on them by heart, final look is not 100% correct. Sarcophagi of my models are not correct for this version but they differ from the original figures enough I think. It wasn't that hard to do all corrections. I really didn't like misshapen hulls of the original casts, so first I applied a layer of greenstuff to them, especially on front and upper armour plates which were shockingly concaved. Then, when the gs was hard, I filed it down to desired shapes. Helmets, which are so iconic part of Mk. IV look, were modelled last. I think that finished models look ok considering that this was my first try to convert 6 mm scale models. The best thing is that "it is done", I can check it on my private "to do" list. Well, there is one thing I', not entirely happy about - assault cannon, clearly visible on one dreadnought, was - if my memory serves me right - unknown during Horus Heresy era.

Next thing I would like to do in our Epic project will be, probably, miniature of centurion. Blister of Space Marines characters, still available on GW's website I think, is ugly as hell. The one I've got contains figures which simply can't pass for captains, chaplains and librarians."

New releases: Just two entries in this category today - short review of Khurasan Miniatures' T-90 tank in 15 mm scale and webpage of Murawski Miniatures. This is a producer of miniatures of Polish napoleonic soldiers. I don't know enough on this era to speak about historical accuracy of figures but I really like the look of them.

Free stuff:In the Emperor's name - I already wrote about this free skirmish game set in WH40K univers, I'm doing this again as there is new third edition of the rules available; Age of Sword and Arrow - free beta rules of generic wargame set in the periods before widespread gunpowder usage. Website has rules, army lists for Biblical and Dark Ages periods and betatesters forum; Warhammer 40K vehicle damage markers.

Blogs worth visiting: one blog to be more specific - Limited Edition Warhammer Models. This site is run by Tom Farnell, it is dedicated to presenting and collecting of limited models from Games Workshop and its subsidiaries.

Source materials: two webpages. First one is dedicated to Seven Years War, first I think truly world wide conflict. This site presents this war in a really wide spectrum - from nations, battles, armies and leaders, to treaties, sieges and fleets. Second site describes Polish armour and artillery from 1918 till 1939. Initially it was a limited project for Steel Panthers game, in time this project outgrown the game and it is much more then that now. Worth checking.

And last but not least I have a question. Do You prefer such short notes, which are nothing more then a group of links really, or more detailed descriptions, like, for example, this one, with informations about authros, sources of the link, etc? Comment on this, please.